Hair waving rod



Oct. 25, 1955 AMACHER 2,721,560

HAIR WAVING ROD Filed Oct. 29, 1951 INVENTOR. .flr'zhurfl. flmacher' ATTORNE Y United States Patent HAIR WAVING ROD Arthur A. Amacher, Flint,Mich.

Application 'October 29, 1951, Serial No. 253,669

9 Claims. (Cl. 132-42) The present invention relates to rods used in thecurling or waving of hair, and more particularly to rods capable ofhaving the hair-bearing portions thereof adjustable 'to differentdiameters while the hair remains coiled thereon.

The general practice in cold permanent waving is to first wind locks ortresses of hair tightly upon rods of small diameter applying a wavingsolution both prior to and after the Winding operation. After waiting aspecified time according to the type of hair and Waving solution used, aneutralizing solution is applied to the windings of hair and a furtherwaiting period is required for the neutralizer to fix or make the wavepermanent. The hair is then unwound from the rods, and after all of therods have been removed, the above-mentioned solutions are rinsed fromthe hair. In order for the waved hair to set properly while drying, itis necessary for the operator to arrange the head of hair in many smallcurls wound around the operators finger and pinned down closely to thescalp. This method is time-consuming, as it requires a considerablelength of time for the operator to make the Chris, and a very muchlonger period spent under a drying apparatus to thoroughly dry thesepinned down curls. Various kinds of drying mechanisms have beendeveloped for the sole purpose of shortening the drying tin est theseclosely wound pin curls, but due 'to the difiiculty of circulating airthrough hair pinned so tightly, it still requires a considerable lengthof time to dry the curls with this method.

An object of the invention is to provide 'a hair waving rod which isquickly and easily adjustable to different diameters for supporting hairtightly wound to a small diameter thereon during a waving operation andloosely wound to a much larger diameter during a setting operationwithout removing the hair from the rod.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hair waving rod inaccordance with the preceding object wherein the adjustable hair-bearingmembers 'of the rod comprise a plurality of spaced, longitudinallyextending strands of material between and around which air may be freelycirculated during the drying operation.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a hair Waving rodhaving a center bar with end members mounted thereon for turningmovement relative to one another which support therebetween andoutwardly of the bar thin strands that form hair-bearing members aroundall of which a lock or tress of hair is wound, and when said end membersare turned relative to one another, said strands will be twisted orstraightened moving the portions thereof intermediate their ends towardsor away from the center bar thereby adjusting the diameter formed by thestrands.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel and improvedhair waving rod of the above-indicated character which is simple andsubstantial in construction, economical to manufacture, and thoroughlyefiicient and practical in use.

These, together with various auxiliary features and 2,721,560 PatentedOct. '25, "1955 vice . '2 objects of the invention which will laterbecome apparent -as the following description proceeds, are attained by"the present invention, preferred embodiments of which have beenillustrated, by way of examples only, in the accompa'nying drawing,wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation of the rod in expanded position;

figure 2 is an end view of same;

Figure 3 is also a side elevation, but showing the parts inacontractedposition,

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through the rod; and Figure 5 is afragmentary sectional view of a modified form of the invention.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, whereinlike numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, thenumeral "10 indicates a spindle with reduced ends 11 and 12 providingshoulders 13 and 14, respectively. Disc-shaped members T5 and 16 withcentrally arranged holes that receive the reduced ends 11 and 12 formend members that are both rotatably and slidably mounted on the spindle.The major portion of the spindle 10 between the shoulders 13 and Hisround in cross section and slowly tapers from each shoulder towards thecenter thereof where it is of the least diameter.

The reduced end 11 of the spindle is stepped to a slightly largerdiameter, as at 17, where it is joined to the shoulder 13, thusproviding a central support for a spiral compression spring 18positioned between the shoulder 13 and an inner face of the end member 15. 'On the reduced end 12 between the shoulder 14 and the inner face "ofthe end member 16 is a washer 19 of fiber or other suitable material forfrictionally holding the end member 16 against turning movement relativeto the spindle 10. The spindle 19 and end members 15 and 16 areconstructed of plastic or other suitable material that will not beaffected by waving and neutralizing solutions. The spring 18 is likewiseconstructed or coated with material for a similar purpose.

In each of the disc-shaped end members 15 and 16 are an equal number ofradial holes 20 extending at angles through the outer faces andperipheries of said members. Through these holes is laced a single pieceof flexible material 21, preferably nylon or plastic, providing aplurality of strands 22 extending longitudinally between the end members15 and 16. The lacing of the material -21 forming the strands 22 isaccomplished by first threading the material from the outer side of oneof the end members 15 or 16 through a hole 20 to the periphery of saidmember from where the material extends through the peripheral end of acorresponding hole 20 of the other end member. The material is thenthreaded back through the next hole 20 of the same member and emergesagain at the periphery of an end member. This procedure is followeduntil all strands 22 are provided for and until the opposite ends of thematerial are extending through adjacent holes 20 to the outer side ofthe end member through winch the lacing started, whereupon, the endmembers are slightly forced towards one another, and while the ends ofthe material are drawn tight, they are tied together, as shown at 23 inFigure 2.

Carried by the reduced end 12 of the spindle 10 outwardlyo'f the endmember 16 is one end of a rubber strap 24 adapted to be stretched andengaged over the extremity of the other reduced end 11 of the spindle,as shown in Figures 2 and 3, for preventing unwinding of the rod fromthe hair. Rubber straps of this type are nowcommonly used for a'likepurpose, and the inclusion thereof, while not being a claimedfeature of this inveneffecting an efiic'ien't opercompensating for theshortening of the distance between the end members 15 and 16 to keep thestrands 22 taut and under the same tension when the strands 22 areangularly disposed to the spindle and are twisted to a position such asshown in Figure 3. Instead of yieldably supporting the end member 15with a spring 18, the end member 15 as shown in Figure 5, has internalthreads 15 thereon, while the reduced end 16 is provided with externalthreads 16 that engage each other and feed the end member 15 inwardlyand outwardly on the reduced end 16 according to positions of thestrands 22 relative to the spindle 10 While threads are shown anddescribed for accomplishing the above purpose, it is to be understoodthat cams with angled engaging surfaces could just as well be used andthat the threads as shown actually provide a camming of the end memberupon turning movement thereof on the reduced end 16*. In cases wherethreads or cams are used instead of springs, friction is greatest at theend with the washer, thereby causing all turning to be on the threads 15and 16 or on the engaging cam surfaces.

When giving a cold permanent wave with the improved rods, the rods aretwisted to the position as shown in Figure 3 prior to the Winding oflocks of hair thereon. By holding the peripheral edges of the endmembers 15 and 16 with the forefinger and thumb of the hands and turningone end member while holding the other, either the frictional engagementof the spring 18 with the end member 15, or the frictional engagement ofthe washer 19 with the end member 16 will be overcome and the rods areeasily and quickly adjusted to contracted positions with the strands 22twisted on the spindles where they will remain due to saidabove-mentioned frictional engagement when the end members 15 and 16 arereleased. After the hair has been thoroughly moistened with a wavingsolution and has remained wound upon the contracted rods a sufficientlength of time for the wave to take, a neutralizing solution to fix ormake the wave permanent is applied to the windings of hair. While thehair remains wound on the contracted rods, the above-mentioned solutionsmay or may not be rinsed from the hair, depending upon the kind ofsolutions used. By then disconnecting an end of each of the rubberstraps 24 and turning the end members 15 and 16 of each rod relative toone another while slightly turning the entire rod in an unwindingdirection relative to the winding of hair, the winding of hair willloosen permitting the rod to expand to a position as shown in Figure l.The rubber straps are then re-engaged over the ends 1.1 to hold theloosened windings of hair on the rods during a drying or setting 2operation, which can be quickly and efl'iciently effected because of thefact that air can be circulated through the hair. After the drying, thehair may be combed out and the waves arranged in the hair style desired.

From the above, it can be seen that the slow and tedious operation ofmaking numerous small pin curls has been eliminated, and the time ofdrying the hair has been materially reduced.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunc tion with theaccompanying drawing, it is believed that a clear understanding of theconstruction, operation, and advantages of the device will be quiteapparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description isaccordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there are herein shownand described preferred embodiments of the invention, various changesmay be made without departing from the spirit and full intendment of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

l. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, an end member at each endof said spindle, at least one of said end members being supported forturning movement relative to the other end member, and a plurality ofspaced hair-supporting members extending longitudinally of said spindleand connected at their opposite ends to said end members to provide areel-like construction upon which hair is wound, said hair-supportingmembers being adapted to be positioned parallel with or at angles tosaid spindle according to turned positions of said end members relativeto one another thereby increasing or decreasing the diameter of thereel-like construction formed by said plurality of hair-supportingmembers.

2. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, an end member at each endof said spindle, at least one of said end members being supported forturning movement relative to the other end member, spacedhair-supporting members extending longitudinally of said spindle andconnected at their opposite ends to said end members, saidhair-supporting members being adapted to be positioned parallel with orat angles to said spindle according to the turned positions of said endmembers relative to one another thereby increasing or decreasing thediameter formed by all of said hair-supporting members intermediate theends of said hair-supporting members, and means providing end movementfor at least one of said end members to compensate for the dififerencesin space between said end members caused by parallel and angledrelationship of said hair-supporting members to said spindle.

3. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, a circular end member ateach end of said spindle, at least one of said circular end membersbeing supported by said spindle for turning movement relative to theother end member, and a plurality of spaced hair-supporting members withtheir opposite ends connected to and extending from the peripheries ofsaid circular end members and being arranged longitudinally of saidspindle said hair-supporting members providing a reel-like constructionof greater diameter than the diameters of said end members uponpositioning said hair-supporting members parallel with said spindle,said hair-supporting members also being adapted to form a reel-likeconstruction of less diameter than said end members upon a turnedposition of one of said end members relative to the other and therebypositioning said hair-supporting members at angles to one another andsaid spindle.

4. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, a circular end member ateach end of said spindle, at least one of said circular end membersbeing supported by said spindle for turning movement relative to theother end member, spaced hair-supporting members with their oppositeends connected to and extending from the peripheries of said circularend members and being arranged longitudinally of said spindle, saidhair-supporting members being adapted to be positioned parallel with orat angles to said spindle according to the turned positions of said endmembers relative to one another thereby increasing or decreasing thediameter formed by all of said hair-supporting members intermediate theends of said hair-supporting members, and means providing end movementfor at least one of said end members to compensate for the difference inspace between said end members caused by parallel and angledrelationship of said hairsupporting members to said spindle.

5. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, an extension on at leastone end of said spindle, an end member at each end of said spindle andat least one of said end members being supported for turning movement onsaid extension, spaced hair-supporting members extending longitudinallyof said spindle and connected at their opposite ends to said endmembers, and means at said extension providing for endwise movement ofthe end member supported thereby to compensate for the dilference inlength of the hair-supporting members and the space between said endmembers when one end member is turned relative to the other.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said means providing for endwisemovement of an end member includes a spiral compression spring aboutsaid end extension and yieldably forcing the end member outward.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein said means providing for endwisemovement of an end member includes angled faces that cam said end memberendwise upon turning movement thereof on said extension.

8. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, a reduced extension oneach end of said spindle forming shoulders where said extensions joinsaid spindle, an end member mounted on each extension for turningmovement, a friction washer on one of said extensions between a shoulderand an end member, a spiral compression spring about the other of saidextensions and engaging at its ends an end member and a shoulder, andspaced hair-supporting members extending longitudinally of said spindleand connected at their opposite ends to said end members.

9. A hair waving device comprising a spindle, a circular end member ateach end of said spindle, at least one of said circular end membersbeing supported by said spindle for turning movement relative to theother end member,

said circular end members having spaced openings therein, and a piece ofthin flexible material laced through said holes in a manner in which aplurality of portions thereof extend longitudinally of said spindle fromone circular end member to the other to provide spaced hair-supportingmembers of a reel-like construction upon which hair is wound, saidhair-supporting members being adapted to be positioned parallel with orat angles to said spindle according to turned positions of said endmembers relative to one another and thereby increasing or decreasing thediameter of the reel-like construction formed by said hair-supportingmembers.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 976,910France Nov. 1, 1950 627,628 Great Britain Aug. 12, 1949 514,361 GermanyDec. 15, 1930 697,915 Germany Sept. 26, 1940

